Sports Extra

ZAGREB, Croatia – Teenager Mikaela Shiffrin is living up to her billing as American skiing’s next big star.

Shiffrin, from Vail, earned her second World Cup title Friday by winning the slalom by a massive 1.19-second margin to regain the lead in the discipline standings.

The 17-year-old Shiffrin had the fastest time in both runs of the night slalom to finish in a combined 2 minutes, 1.73 seconds. She won her first career World Cup event last month in Are, Sweden.

“I skied solid. It went really smooth,” Shiffrin said. “I was just letting my skis (take) me to the bottom, and that is what I am looking for.”

Shiffrin was helped by mistakes from her closest challengers after the opening leg, Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Sweden’s Maria Pietilae-Holmner, who both failed to finish their final run.

Frida Hansdotter of Sweden was second, and Erin Mielzynski of Canada was 1.76 behind in third.

The rest of the field finished more than two seconds off Shiffrin’s winning time.

Shiffrin even overtook Lindsey Vonn as the top American in the overall standings.

nhl

NHL, union meet separately with federal mediator

NEW YORK – The NHL and the union got back to work Friday, just not with each other yet.

Both sides had plans to meet separately with federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh in the morning but hadn’t set up a time to return to bargaining in an effort to save the season.

The lockout reached its 111th day Friday, and the sides have only one week to reach a deal on a collective bargaining agreement that would allow for a 48-game hockey season – the minimum the NHL has said it would play.

Commissioner Gary Bettman set a Jan. 11 deadline for a deal so the season can begin eight days later.

college football

FCS championship game features a rematch of 2012

FRISCO, Texas – The FCS championship rematch between North Dakota State and Sam Houston State is something of a do-over for several key returning offensive players.

They didn’t have much of a say a year ago when a fake punt was the most important play in North Dakota State’s 17-6 victory in a game dominated by defense.

An improved passing game won’t guarantee anything for Sam Houston (11-3) today. The Bison lead the FCS in passing defense, along with scoring and total defense.

North Dakota State’s offense wasn’t much better a year ago, although returning quarterback Brock Jensen accounted for both touchdowns.

cycling

Armstrong reportedly considers admitting drug use

AUSTIN, Texas – The New York Times reported Friday that Lance Armstrong, who strongly denied the doping charges that led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, told associates he is considering admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The report cited anonymous sources and said Armstrong was considering a confession to help restore his athletic career in triathlons and running events at age 41.

Armstrong was banned for life from cycling and cannot compete in athletic events sanctioned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Yet Armstrong attorney Tim Herman denied that Armstrong has reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.